Sunday, November 24, 2013

Hello!
I like making artwork for clothing because I have to hide it away after I paint it, and then a few months later Its a pleasant surprise to see it on a garment!
Here is a new favourite - a potplant print for the wonderful Element Eden
Here it is on a singlet/tank top.

Also comes a cushion cover... which you could slyly frame and pass off as an art print if you were so inclined!

Pop over to the Element Eden online store for other rad items, some also featuring artwork by their advocates. All items very cute. Like this playsuit!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Art I created for the Passenger Single - Holes from All The Little Lights.

The actual artwork is not a flat image but is made up of five painted layers and the outlines. The process inspired by all the printmaking I did at art school, and which I really loved.(Those are the prints at the bottom - the lightening images. Done in a 7" square format because I was so intent on creating album.)

All the pieces that look like this HOLES cover - sunset colours, outline heavy, we nicknamed the Folk Giant series because Mike looked like a giant in the first poster of this style.
And now there is a Passenger FOLK GIANT TEE SHIRT you can purchase. Cool!

The C- Bomb from New Zealand Film Academy on Vimeo.
I've been quiet on the blog news this year because I took a few months out to learn about film making.
And then we made a short film!
I co-directed, co-wrote, and worked on the editing team. Im especially proud of my efforts on editing the skating to music and all the music synchs really... which all seemed pretty logical to me after watching so many skate videos over the years.
It was so nice to work in a team for a change.. my studio gets lonely!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Here is a fun bit of news - one of my paintings has been brought to the attention of the Advertising Standards Complaints Board... and ruled "not offensive" in its content. (content that I fault as a bit too pastel, if anything).
HERE is a link to the article.
Or you can just read it below.
The painting was commissioned for the New Zealand Aids Foundation, and is the first painting in a series of four.
I wonder if the next one will stir 'em up again?
Showing gay men in ad ruled “not offensive”
Posted in: New Zealand Daily News
By GayNZ.com Daily News staff - 5th April 2013Email this article
Printer friendly page
Multiple complaints about a Get It On! safe sex ad have been dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority, which points out that simply showing two gay men in an ad is not offensive.
The ad is part of the Love Your Condom campaign and shows two men sitting next to each other on a couch ‘in a way that expressed their affection for each other’. One of the men is holding a condom and the text reads: “LOVE YOUR CONDOM, JOIN IN AT GET IT ON. CO.NZ”
Complainant J. Wadham, said: “I believe this advertisement does more than encourage condom use. It is encouraging promiscuous group sex (!!).. There are ways and means of promoting safe sex, but with the display of the provocative scene such as this on open display in a public place, with the text ‘join in’, in a street that I have to drive my children down every day, appears to disregard many New Zealanders expectations of a family friendly city environment.”
Others complained that ‘the depiction of a homosexual couple was inappropriate as heterosexual couples also use condoms’, while another objected to the sexual nature of the advertisement in a public place where children were present.
The Chair of the Advertising Standards Complaints Board pointed out the ad was for the L.Y.C campaign which advocated and promoted safe sex, and specifically the importance of using condoms for men. In the decision she says focusing on one group of condom users by showing two men in the advertisement did not preclude any other group.
“Turning to the Complainants’ concerns that the advertisement showing homosexual men was offensive, she said that this was not grounds for a complaint in itself. Further she said that the text ‘join in’ referred to joining the campaign for safe sex, not to engage in promiscuity.”
The Chair says the way the men were depicted was not salacious or explicit in any way, and that did not reach the threshold to be likely to cause serious or widespread offence in the light of generally prevailing community standards.
“Furthermore, the Chairman was of the view that the advertisement had been prepared with a due sense of social responsibility to consumers and to society, and did not meet the threshold to be in breach of the Advertising Codes.”

Monday, January 28, 2013

Looking through some paintings to glean ideas for a new t-shirt design for Passenger, the talented and increasingly popular UK musician I paint for very regularly, I found a single cover i was very stoked on and had forgotten all about (The Wrong Direction). I figured it hadn't been posted here, and frankly that warranted the whole bunch being put up. Without further ado...

^Single cover for The Wrong Direction. I'd hidden this one away from myself because it was the end product of many many attempts to nail the cover image and i was sick of the sight of it! ...12 months later I have to say its easily my favorite of the covers. (nice music video too - watch it at that link just above).

Monday, January 7, 2013

My cool neighbors just arrived home from holiday and reminded me that I'm in the Glassons mag/blog 'FESTIVAL' edition... alongside my super cute and super nice neighbour, model Danika Rooney .
Here's a link to the blog post and heres the interview- but you should really go to the blog link to get the full experience!
“I’ve been doing artwork for Ladyhawke [real name Pip Brown] since she made up the name in about 2004, at which point I was at art school,” says Sarah Larnach, one of Australasia’s most talented and prolific illustrators. “I’d already done some portraits of her then… So as long as she’s been Ladyhawke, I’ve been chipping in with my visual interpretation.”
“We work together really closely. I guess you could say we’re joint
art directors… We’ve done everything—posters, billboards, a couple of videos, lots of album covers, singles covers, merchandise…”
Sarah’s work for Ladyhawke is strong and concise at its core, both graphic and intricate, but dreamy watercolour finishes lend it a fantastical and slightly retro edge. In short, it stands out, it stays in your mind, and it suits Ladyhawke’s aesthetic to a tee.
You’ll have seen it on online, on t-shirts, on posters pasted on urban surfaces across the globe, on towering billboards in major cities like London, and forming the basis of two of Ladyhawke’s much-shared and highly-acclaimed music videos, ‘My Delirium’ in 2008 and ‘Magic’ in 2009. (Go watch them now, they’re amazing!)
“I was shown really good story boards,” Sarah says when we ask about the process of making an illustration-based video, and how different it was to her usual work processes. “And then it was like repeating someone else’s vision back to them in my style.”
“For ‘My Delirium’, the directors were two guys and they’d met at
art school when they were studying illustration so they could tell me exactly what I should be doing, but I was totally a fish out of water,
I was so overwhelmed! For the second one [‘Magic’], I did all of the artwork out of a hotel room… I really like the experience of being directed actually, its quite freeing to have someone else make the tough decisions!”
Her favourite Ladyhawke creations? “From the new album I really love [the artwork for] ‘Blue Eyes’, because all the other things
from this album have been black and white, and there we went psychedelic, really colourful. And both album covers, for Ladyhawke [for which Sarah was nominated for an ‘Album Art’ ARIA in 2009] and for Anxiety.”
Having worked so prolifically with Ladyhawke, it was easy for Sarah to conceive of doing more music-related work, and she has—locally with album covers for Liam Finn and The Sami Sisters, both inspiring epic window displays in Auckland’s legendary music store Real Groovy, and internationally with two albums for British artist Passenger, with a third in the works.
“Working with musicians is great,” she says. “They’re great, they have lovely imaginations and tend to be quite open to my suggestions, and they’re usually really happy to go with what looks good without any agenda.”
Luckily, she’s a music lover too, naming Fleetwood Mac and Neil Young as her “favourite oldies” and newer bands Burning Hearts, She’s So Rad and Tame Impala as contemporary faves.
If she could do artwork for any musician ever, it would be “Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks. Or Rihanna, in a pin-up style. Or Jay-Z
and Beyonce…”
But music’s not always the best thing to listen to while getting creative… “I often listen to audiobooks,” she admits. “I’ve listened to hundreds—anything will do. It’s because I get so involved with music when I’m listening that it distracts me. I can listen to a musician I’m painting for, on repeat, to indulge that headspace, like, to live in ‘Liam Finn Land’.”
“Otherwise, there are just a few musicians/bands I know so well that I can work and listen to them—Ladyhawke, Fleetwood Mac, Patti Smith, Neil Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Roxy Music… and when I listen to a band, it’s that band only for the entire day.”
Sarah’s plans for summer? “For Christmas a few of us friends are going to Pip’s parents place. I’m not making plans for New Year’s so that they can’t be spoiled! Things seem to just come together at the last minute. And fingers crossed I’ll have my license by the end of the summer, then I’ll be taking myself on a road trip!”
And her favourite summer things to wear? “All of my jeans as shorts— I cut the sleeves and legs off everything. I sometimes regret it come winter!”
Words by
Images from http://www.generation-streetstyle.com/

Friday, June 1, 2012

I LOVE this photo of Pip 'Ladyhawke' Brown and her billboard poster, on Old Street in London, so much that I wanted to post it up here.
A less well humored person might have been miffed to hear that she'd been defaced, but not Pip. We went over there yesterday and got some pictures.

SO! the launch party exhibition hullabaloo for the new Ladyhawke album - Anxiety, which I am in London for, was two nights ago. It went off "like a frog in a sock", as they say.
A bunch of awesome folks helped me get there by 'crowd funding' with Pozible. Im so grateful...and in just a few days i shall be working my ass off to paint all the works they pledged for!
I have been waiting to see the professional pics of the party, but impatience has forced my hand and I'm going to post up a few pictures, grainy and dark as they are, for you to see now.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

CANT BELIEVE how quickly the 'crowd funder' I made on Pozible was met. With the generosity and bargain spotting of a bunch of lovely people, it took just 26 hours from the launch to reach the funding goal.
26 hours in -

Another few days, and the goal was 200% over.
I am SO stoked, so grateful and so flattered to have had this crazy positive response. Thank you all.
6 Days in... 8 to go -

Thursday, May 10, 2012

(If you can hook me up by re-blogging or posting about this, I would be eternally grateful.
If we can hook each other up by doing a transaction through Pozible, I'm pretty confident that we will both come out of this very happy)
Theres a new Ladyhawke album being released, and if you're familiar with my work you will know that the biggest creative collaboration I have is with that lovely musician.
Making art is not a thankless job- theres lots of praise to be found, and support in the form of peer (and strangers) recognition. What it is rather short on is cash. For the most part I do OK on that front, but like musicians and all kinds of artists, usually invest the money back into the creating. Now I find myself needing to be in London in a few weeks for the launch of the new Ladyhawke album, and without the $ to invest in the airfare.
So, i have set up a crowd-funder thing through Pozible, where you can pledge some cash but you are getting a painting or print in return, so its actually an awesome little situation.
This isn't me politely asking for something for nothing- Whats really being asked here is that with your pledge, you purchase some art from me, and at really good value, so that I can go to the UK - exhibit at this album release party- garner more interest in my work - increase the value of my work, and therefore - increase the resale value of your investment! WE ALL WIN!
For $30 you can get a signed and numbered print -

For $75 you'll get an A4 sized original painting! it'll be rad... trust me.
$400 will get you a new original form my Wonder Cabinet series. Your power as the commissioner will even entitle you to pick the creature that I paint the faux-taxidermy guide of!

And the cream of this crop is The Portrait Commission- $1000 will get you a commissioned portrait of the willing subject of your choice. Your beloved mum? Your BFF? your cat? 56cm x 56cm, this square format matched the new pieces I've created for the Ladyhawke Anxiety series. Then again, I could easily be persuaded to change the dimensions.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

'HER - Success and Independance' is a business womens magazine published in New Zealand. They've done a really really nice write up on me in the new issue. I won't go into the details, but you should be able to read it in the images below. Romy & Michelle would be proud...

Unfortunately when it came to handing over a publicity photo, I found I was caught short. Given how these things are recycled on the internet, it looks like my personal image may be represented in perpetuity by a dorky test-shot from the Ladyhawke album cover shoot... of me in a shitty old flannel with the studio cat, Mr Smith. He has his own facebook page.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Ten years ago when record collecting was my LIFE, I would have totally crapped myself with joy to think that something I'd created would be on the cover of a release by Rough Trade. As it was, I still gave a little fart of glee. Im not jaded yet.Working with Ladyhawke is a contant source of joy and pride for me. Jezus- just look at what happens when Im not paying attention- a 7" comes out on Rough Trade!

I cant figure out where to buy the damn thing from. If you know, please let me know!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Talenthouse, a wonderful initiative from the UK which brings established music acts together with young artists, is hosting a fab contest-Entrants will make their own cover for Ladyhawke's Anxiety, and the winning entry will actually be produced as a 12" cover. Imagine that! You win, and you'll immediately be the owner of the rarest Ladyhawke artwork ever!COOL!The judges for the competition are Pip Brown, aka Ladyhawke and me, Sarah Larnach, aka that woman who does all of Ladyhawke's artwork.

Monday, February 6, 2012

International Rescue represent me for illustration jobs... They are lovely folks, and their blog and the other artists on their roster are worth browsing any time.

"Artists and musician’s have a long history of creating kick-ass culture-defining album covers. Think Storm Thorgerson and Pink Floyd, Warhol and the Velvet Underground, Peter Blake and The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s. And that’s just that era. Closer to home, the collaboration between illustrator Sarah Larnach and Ladyhawke has been bubbling away with Sarah’s most recognizable work being the Ford Thunderbird traveling down a watercoloured desert road in 2008′s My Delerium video. That is until now. Sarah Larnach gave us the lowdown on how the two have been at it again."

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Our photoshoot for the painting was done with all the technical sophistication of the mac 'photobooth'. ... not dissimilar to the photoshoot for the Magic singles from her last album, which we did on photobooth and skype chat while on opposite sides of the globe. Pip is holding an old Agfa Click in this image, and this alludes to the theme of the music video for Black,White And Blue. The video and indeed the single will be release February 19th (I think...), but in the mean time there are some sneaky live performances on youtube yo can check out.

Wow, this has been so long on the burner that I really forgot to post about the artwork as soon as it was released in December - the artwork and album title that is, the album comes out in March (pre-order it here).

I am very proud of the artwork I did for the Ladyhawke official website too... getting my head around the design requirements was the tough part, but then what the brain and hand spewed forth were a surprising success.

At the moment im busting a gut to get the album package finished... there are a few more original bits and pieces to adorn that of course, which should have been done weeks ago... but summer holidays in New Zealand took priority!

But for now, up the top is a look at the cover of the new Ladyhawke album - 'Anxiety'....and here is the cover artwork, uncropped and in its original state!